Help Me Mama, Help Help Me Mama

I know, I know.  The song doesn’t really go that way, but those are the words I heard when I saw this East Lake style dresser the other day at Bottle Shop Antiques.

It was in the back, sandwiched in the land of misfit toys, if you will; under a tarp that was only partially draped across the top.  I don’t even know how I saw it, to be quite honest.  But I did, and that song popped into my head.  So I finagled a low price, and loaded it in my car.

When I got home, Sean wasn’t home at the time, so I had to leave it in the back of my car until he could help me, as it’s pretty heavy.  And when Sean got home, our conversation went something like this:

Sean:  “Um.  Brookie.  What is in the back of your car?

Me:  “This really great dresser that’s going to need a lot of attention.  But when I’m done with it, it’s going to look great.”

Sean:  “Doesn’t really look like a dresser to me.  Don’t dressers have tops?”

Me:  “Yes, and this one will eventually.”

He wasn’t the least bit enthusiastic about this dresser, but when has that ever affected me?  He helped me unload the dresser on to the driveway, and I got to working on it right away.

I worked on the body of the dresser first.   I removed the drawers and swept all of the cobwebs and all the ick away.  We glued and clamped the joints as they had loosened over time.

Then I sanded lightly, and used my dremel tool on the side details.  Then wiped it down with a damp cloth.

Already it was starting to look better.  Got out the primer, and applied one coat.  Then painted.  Three coats.

Turning my attention the to drawers – they needed help.  We had to do the glue and clamp thing again to the bottoms of the drawers, and then we applied particle board to add strength.  Then they went through the same process of a light sand and damp wipe down.  Primed, and painted.

I was so careful around the drawer pulls.  These pulls are my favorite part of the dresser.  They make the dresser!   Those got a lighter shade and I used a teeny tiny brush to make sure I stayed “in the lines.”

I opted to paint the dresser coral for a couple reasons.  1) Because coral is my “It” color right now, and 2) I wanted this dresser to go from the land of misfit toys and under a tarp, to Va Va Va Voom.

And it has.  I brought this dresser back to life, even if it doesn’t go with a single thing in our house.

This dresser went from forgotten, to refurbished, to fabulous!